Conference

On 16-17 February 2017 the foreign ministers of the G20 countries gathered in Bonn, Germany’s United Nations city. This was the second ever meeting of foreign ministers under the G20 umbrella, which brings together 19 of the world’s largest economies, plus the European Union. The discussion among the G20 foreign ministers officially centered around issues of a long-term nature such as the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris climate agreement, crisis prevention and resolution, and opportunities for deepening the G20’s relationship with African economies.

The G20 should play a prominent role in strengthening multilateral institutions. This view was recently echoed at a joint high-level panel discussion between policy-makers and Think20 experts. The panel discussion took place on the occasion of the second ever G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting on 16 February 2017, in the United Nations City of Bonn, Germany.

For the first time since the establishment of the Think20 (T20) process, Think Tanks from across Africa have met with T20 Think Tanks to discuss the G20 agenda and potential opportunities for Africa-G20 cooperation.

For the first time since the establishment of the Think20 (T20) process, Think Tanks from across Africa have met with T20 Think Tanks to discuss the G20 agenda and potential opportunities for Africa-G20 cooperation.

The T20 Africa conference was organized by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) and was attended by 240 high-ranking delegates from African and G20 Think Tanks, African regional organisations, the South African and German governments, the European Union and the OECD, as well as other G20 engagement groups such as the Business20 (B20).

The conference provided a unique forum to discuss how Africa and the G20 could build alliances to promote sustainable development. Please read the communiqué of the conference co-hosts for further information about the outcomes and recommendations of the conference.

The German government has identified deeper cooperation with Africa as one of the top priorities for its G20 presidency. Against this background, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), as the coordinators of the T20 process in 2016/17, together with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), are hosting the T20 Africa Conference: Building alliances for sustainable development on 1-3 February in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Contact

If you would like to contribute to the T20 blog please get in touch with Axel.Berger@die-gdi.de. Prior to publication, each blog will be subject to a review process in order to ensure a high standard of analytical quality.